Do you know what the best, most effective moisturiser for your skin is?

Oil!

Before those of you with oily skin run away, let me tell you this: oil is your friend! ESPECIALLY if you wash your face with something that strips away your natural oils. Replacing those oils with something nourishing should make your face very, very happy (and potentially less oily).

Before we start: never, ever use facial oil or moisturiser on a dirty face otherwise you’ll just help seal in all that dirt and grime which will make your face unhappy. ALWAYS cleanse first.

All you need is 3 ingredients.

Ingredient One: Base Oil

Choose your base oil. Test it first on its own, to see if your skin likes it. You might find that your skin not only loves it, but it might be all you need!

Here are some of the base oils you could choose from (this is by no means an exhaustive list!):
Jojoba Oil: for dry, ageing, oily, normal, or acne-prone skin
Sweet Almond Oil: an all-around great facial oil, but it takes a bit longer to “sink in” than most
Grapeseed Oil: for normal, oily, or acne-prone skin
Avocado Oil: for dry and ageing skin
Hemp Seed Oil: for any skin type, also very light
From the Kitchen Cupboard:
Olive Oil: This is a great oil if you have really dry skin
Sunflower Oil: Just as good as olive oil, but a little less expensive.

Ingredient Two: Nourishing Oil

These oils are a little more pricey. If you want to skip them, that’s fine, but I feel that it adds a little extra treat to your skin.

Some ideas:
Rosehip Seed Oil: incredibly regenerating, known for its firming and anti-ageing properties – good for dry, ageing, and normal skin
Borage Oil: great for most skin types, but especially oily and problem skin
But my favourites are the African ones (I love them equally):
Baobab Oil: great moisturiser, helps with sun spots and skin softening.
Marula Oil: ideal for dull, ageing skin and under-nourished skin. Great for softening and revitalising the skin.
Mongongo Oil: very nourishing, has hydrating, regenerating and restructuring properties

Ingredient Three: Essential Oil

Add your favourite essential oil (or a mixture of them). This is good not only for scenting but also for aromatherapy and don’t forget that every essential oil has its own special properties but remember, you only need a couple of tiny drops of essential oil to get an amazing benefit for your skin. Essential oils are potent (and they last forever when you use them this way)!

There are FAR too many essential oils which benefit skin to list them all here, but here are a few of the more widely available or commonly known ones (for the rest… Google is the best!).
Lavender: acne, oily, or even dry skin – a little tiny bit goes a long way
Jasmine: any skin type, hydrating
Peppermint: great for oily and acneic skin, like lavender don’t use much
Chamomile: either German or Roman – great for ALL skin types, but also very expensive
Rose: wonderful for ageing, dry and normal skin, it’s also pretty expensive
Rosemary: for acne and oily skin

Now that you have your ingredients, let the fun start. Use a 30ml bottle. Fill your bottle just under 2/3 of the way with your base oil. Add your “bonus nourishing” oil until the bottle is just about full.

Add ONLY 4-5 drops of essential oil. Less if you’re using peppermint. Cap and shake well after each drop. You should be able to smell it, but it should not be overpowering.

And that’s it!

Gently apply as needed (you’ll see you’ll need just one or two drops) giving your beautiful face a relaxing and at the same time stimulating massage.

Keep your facial oil away from sunlight, and it should be good for 8 – 12 months.

It works!